Leica Geosystems powers national Spanish orthophoto project

Georgia, USA, 26 March 2007: In cooperation with Spain’s national agencies and regional governments, the Spanish National Geographic Institute has embarked on its ambitious National Aerial Orthophoto Plan (Plan Nacional de Ortofotografía Aérea or PNOA). The project’s goal is to create 0.5 meter resolution orthophotos covering the entire country for more than half a million square kilometers, and update the data every two years. Next year, resolution for this project will increase to 25 centimeters for the whole territory and 10 centimeters for urban areas.

Venturo, one of the private mapping companies is responsible for creating orthophotos of four of 17 PNOA regions. Their portion covers some 60,000 square kilometers, captured at 0.5 meter resolution (50,000 square kilometers) and 0.25 meter resolution (10,000 square kilometers). While that’s a huge undertaking by most standards, the firm hopes it’s just the start of its PNOA involvement. “Our goal is to be one of the leaders in Spanish/European mapping market,” explained Pedro Llorens, a director with the firm.

Leica Geosystems distributors in the south and west of Spain and in Portugal, started Venturo about two years ago. The company is based in Asturias an area known for its coal mining industry. With the mines now closed, the region looks to high-tech employers like Venturo for future growth and prosperity.

Venturo currently offers orthophoto, stereoplotting, mapmaking and cadastre services. The company hopes to extend into other areas with the acquisition of aerial sensors and airborne LIDAR. “We want to expand into geographic information systems, urban and regional planning, and related areas,” Llorens said.

“With a product line that includes airborne sensors and software for photogrammetry, remote sensing, and 3D visualization, we are the perfect partner to help Venturo achieve its goals in expanding its service scope to secure mapping projects worldwide,” said Richard McKay, Vice President, Sales, Leica Geosystems Geospatial Imaging.